An employee walking along a thermal pipe at the Kamojang geothermalpower plant near Garut, West Java, on March 18. State utility provider Perusahaan Listrik Negara is targeting an additional 135 megawatts ofelectricity from three new geothermal plants. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time. …”

Monday, December 20, 2010

Jakarta, Amsterdam share best practices

Clean water is becoming a serious problem in Indonesia due to prolonged difficulties faced by many local water companies, such as a shortage of raw water sources, high level of water leakage, mismanagement and unprofitable water rates that are far lower than production costs.

Ikhwan of the Indonesia Association of Water Supply Companies (PERPAMSI) said Wednesday that many people were unable to get enough clean water due to poor water delivery services, including high water leakage.

“A large percentage of water is lost in the delivery system. Technical solutions are needed to help local water companies deal with the problems, including how to prevent contamination in water pipelines and to deliver adequate water to remote areas as part of efforts to contain water-borne diseases,” he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a two-day national workshop of LOGO South Indonesia titled “Scaling Up Successes for Improved Water Services Delivery in Indonesia”, which ended Wednesday.

The workshop was held by the Indonesian-Netherlands Association (INA) in cooperation with LOGO South Indonesia Programme of VNG International, an organization of Dutch municipalities.

Ikhwan said many local water utilities could not run their businesses well as they were hampered by a lack of raw water sources. “We might resolve it by carrying out a kind of water regionalization to help solve the water supply industry’s problems. However, this would require sustained attention to policy, especially from the government. So, it won’t be easy,” he said.

Unprofitable water rates are another problem faced by many local water companies, which leads to poor performance. This has created inefficiency within local water utilities, resulting in failure to meet their obligations.

During the two-day meeting, LOGO South Indonesia and its counterparts, including several local water utilities, shared good practices achieved within its five-year program from 2005 to 2010. It also discussed a whole range of other issues, including how to set profitable water rates, reduce water losses, prevent contamination in water pipelines and deliver water to remote areas to contain water-borne diseases spread through poor water quality and sanitation.

Koos Dekkers of the World Waternet Foundation, representing Twinning Partners LOGO South Indonesia from the Netherlands, said there was a connection between drinking water and health.

He said about 90 percent of the households in Meranti regency in Riau Islands had no running water. ”They use rainwater for their daily consumption. The water, however, is placed in an open reservoir outside their houses, directly under the sun. As a result, the water temperature rises from 28 degrees to 38 degrees, making both bacteria and virus grow four times quicker,” he told the Post.

By simply building a roof over the water reservoir, people could keep their water clean.

“We only need a simple solution, instead of a sophisticated technique, to keep the water reservoir cooler so that bacteria will grow much less. However, people might not know about this,” Dekkers said, adding that about 600 people suffered from diarrhea every month due to poor water quality and sanitation.

Indonesian-Netherlands Association (INA) director Elmar Bouma said LOGO South Indonesia had supported the strengthening of local governments’ capacity to improve their water delivery services, such as in North Sumatra and three cities in West Java: Bogor, Banten and Sukabumi. (ebf)

Health, Safety & Environment

PRECARIOUS: Without proper safety equipment, three workers put the iron frame for a billboard in place near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Friday. The billboard will display a sign celebrating the city's 480th birthday. JP/Arief Suhardiman

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Water Distribution

Flow of Funds, Flow of Water (WB)

Today, fewer than 20% of households in Indonesia have access to piped water, which is inexpensive and still of reasonable quality compared to alternative sources. The situation has deteriorated in recent years, as the sector can no longer rely on central government grants and loans, formerly major sources of funding.Read More ...

FREE CAR WASH: A taxi is sprayed with water from a broken pipe on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta on Sunday. (JP/J. Adiguna)

GIFT FROM EARTH: Almost half of Jakarta's residents use groundwater as their main source of clean water due to a lack of access to treated piped water. Water comes from wells like the one this family in Kampung Bahari, North Jakarta are using (photo above), or mechanic pumps like this one in Kampung Melayu, South Jakarta. (JP/P.J. Leo)

LATEST NEWS: Photographers covering the deteriorating health of former president Soeharto send pictures through a wireless internet facility in front of Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta on Wednesday. The service, which was provided by IT company CISCO, has saved journalists the effort of going back and forth between their offices to submit their work. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama